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Posts tagged with 'pounce' at MetaFilter.Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:27:13 -0800Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:27:13 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60Foxes jump in a north-easterly directionhttp://www.metafilter.com/124580/Foxes%2Djump%2Din%2Da%2Dnortheasterly%2Ddirection
Foxes hunt rodents in the snow by listening for their movements and <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/photo.do?photo=2842&category=3&group=1">leaping high</a> to <a href="http://imgur.com/gallery/kumI9">pounce on their prey</a>. Interestingly, they hunt most successfully when they jump in a north-easterly direction - 73% of the time. Jumping in the opposite direction has a 60% success rate. Pouncing in other directions was successful only 18% of the time. This was consistent regardless of time of day, season of year and weather conditions. The current theory is that the <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/01/11/foxes-use-the-earths-magnetic-field-as-a-targeting-system">foxes have a magnetic sense that helps them pinpoint their prey</a>. If you're thinking that this sounds rather bizarre, you're not alone: one of the first people to study the magnetic sense of birds, <a href="http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/1544134/Roswitha_Wiltschko">Roswitha Wiltschko</a>, commented, "This explanation... has plausibility only because there's hardly any other mechanism that indicates directions."
There's several mechanisms by which creatures can <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception">detect magnetic fields</a>. These include small crystals of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetite">magnetite</a> which can attract or repel each other indirectly generating a nervous signal, and a molecule called cryptochrome which is found in the retina. This molecule is found in common birds like robins; astonishingly you can disable a robin's magnetic sense by <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/07/08/robins-can-literally-see-magnetic-fields-but-only-if-their-vision-is-sharp">blindfolding it's right eye</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.124580Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:27:13 -0800Stark